1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for controlling content playback. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for intelligently controlling content playback.
2. Description of the Related Art
A system for controlling content playback according to the related art monitors a viewing area to determine whether to pause or continue playback of a program based on a number of detected viewers in a viewing area. For example, a system for controlling content playback according to the related art may have a detector that detects a number of viewers in the viewing area. During playback of a program, the system for controlling content playback may periodically monitor the viewing area to detect whether there is a change in the number of viewers in the viewing area. If there is a decrease in the number of viewers in the viewing area, then the system for controlling content playback may control a playback device to pause playback of the program. When the system for controlling content playback detects an increase in the number of viewers in the viewing area such that the number of viewers in the viewing area is equal to or greater than the previously detected number of viewers in the viewing area, the system for controlling content playback controls the playback device to continue playback of the program.
According to the related art, an interactive system may be provided that allows multiple users to retrieve and consume recordings of multimedia events. In other words, according to the related art, multimedia events may be recorded and archived for user retrieval according to user queries. For example, a plurality of sensors may be configured to record a multimedia event. The sensors and other data input streams and all related metadata associated therewith may be input to an aggregator that aggregates all of the inputs associated with the multimedia event. A filtering system may be provided which provides for intelligent filtering of the inputs associated with the multimedia event to identify portions of the multimedia event that may be of interest to a user or that may be related to a user query. For example, a filtering system may identify specific portions of the multimedia event and archive those portions for creating a highlight reel or for retrieval purposes in response to user queries.
The systems and methods for controlling content playback according to the related art do not detect or monitor viewers or audience members in the viewing area and associate the data detected with a timeline of the playback content. For example, the systems and methods for controlling content playback according to the related art do not monitor an audience noise level or other behaviors, identify specific behaviors or indicia of a point of interest and associated those indicia of the point of interest with the corresponding point in time on the playback content to allow for intelligent controlling of the content playback.
Accordingly, there is a need for an apparatus and a method for intelligently controlling content playback.
The above information is presented as background information only to assist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with regard to the present invention.